TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30
Proverbs 29:18
Romans 10:9

“Where there is no vision,
the people perish ...”

NO WORD, NO LIFE! (I)

Leaving 1 Corinthians for the moment, let us consider Proverbs 29:18, a commonly misinterpreted verse. Some use this verse to espouse the importance of vision to an organisation. However, the “vision” in the first half of the verse is parallel to the term “law” in the second half of the verse. The “vision” therefore refers to God’s prophetic revelation to the people in biblical times.

Today, God’s law and prophetic revelation is found in the Holy Bible, which is God’s Perfect Word. Without the Word of God, there will be no knowledge of salvation from sin. Therefore, the people will perish. On the other hand, if the people receive and believe the Scriptures, they will find great blessing in His Truth. They will be most happy to obey God’s law because they find their sufficiency and abundant joy in their blessed relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Before the Sixteenth Century Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) attempted to hide the Bible from the masses to cover up the atrocities of the priesthood and the clergy. The Scriptures were originally written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, which the people could not understand. However, the RCC forbade the translation of God’s Word into the vernacular. As a result, the people could not read God’s Word. Those days were rightly called the Dark Ages for the people perished spiritually without the light of God’s Truth.

However, men of faith rose up during the Reformation such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, William Tyndale and John Hus, who contended for the Holy Scriptures. They had a set of principles, each representing a key belief of the Christian faith in contradiction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. They are: Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone), Sola Gratia (by grace alone), Sola Fide (by faith alone), Solus Christus (through Christ alone), and Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).

THOUGHT: I must treasure the rich heritage of the Reformation!
PRAYER: Father, may I treasure Thy Word every day.